Contents

History

Magneto's First Brotherhood

The Brotherhood of Mutants was a group dedicated to the cause of mutant superiority over humans. Throughout its various incarnations, the Brotherhood's agenda gravitated towards either subjugating the human race to the will of mutants or eradicating humanity altogether. Magneto formed the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, including Astra, Toad, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Mastermind, shortly after the public debut of the X-Men. After a falling out with Astra that led to her quitting the team, Magneto had the Brotherhood initiate a coup in Santo Marco that was thwarted by the X-Men,[3] as well as kidnap Angel in an attempt to destroy the X-Men.[4] Magneto then attempted to recruit the both thunder god Thor[5] and Namor[6] into his Brotherhood, but both refused.

The Blob was the next candidate for recruitment, but he ultimately declined to join after seeing the way Magneto mistreated his followers.[7] Magneto the sent Mastermind to recruit Unus; however, he was blackmailed by the X-Men into declining the offer in exchange for reversing his then-amplified powers.[8] During an encounter with the enigmatic Stranger, Magneto and the Toad were captured and taken to the Stranger's homeworld, shortly after which Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch joined a revamped version of the Avengers.[9]

New Brotherhood

After a tenure with the subversive organization Factor Three (intended to become a third major world power), Blob, Mastermind, and Unus banded together as a new Brotherhood. Following a failed attempt to settle the score with the X-Men, the trio were able to make the Beast believe he had killed the Avenger Iron Man and manipulated him into joining until he realized the truth and single-handedly defeated them.

Magneto's Second Brotherhood

Eventually returning to Earth, Magneto re-formed the Brotherhood with Blob, Mastermind, Unus, and the Savage Land Mutate Lorelei to assist him in the creation of a being with unlimited power that he dubbed Alpha, the Ultimate Mutant.[10] In an encounter with the Defenders, the rapidly evolving Alpha unleashed his powers, reducing the Brotherhood to a state of infancy.[1]
Mastermind, Unus, Blob and Loreli were later restored to their proper ages and were recruited by the Vanisher to seek revenge on the X-Men, but were defeated by the Champions. [11]

Mystique's First Brotherhood

The mutant shape-shifter Mystique formed her own Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, recruiting Blob, Pyro, Avalanche, Destiny, and her own foster daughter, Rogue. Mystique sent the Brotherhood against Carol Danvers, then known as Ms. Marvel, which ultimately led to Rogue absorbing and retaining Danvers' powers and memories. Mystique intended for the Brotherhood to assassinate then-anti-mutant Senator Kelly, but they met defeat after the X-Men intervened and were incarcerated.

Rogue freed the imprisoned members from captivity, but the male members were quickly recaptured after a struggle with the Galadorian Spaceknight named ROM. Mystique then sought to recruit the Dire Wraith/human halfbreed Hybrid as a member; however, he proved too powerful for her to control, and the "Sisterhood" eventually aided Rom in temporarily destroying Hybrid. Subsequent efforts to target the X-Man Angel led to an encounter with Alison Blaire, the Dazzler, with whom Rogue quickly developed a fierce rivalry until Dazzler definitively defeated her.

Freedom Force

Rogue eventually left the Brotherhood to seek help with controlling her powers and joined the X-Men. Soon after, Mystique's Brotherhood gained the support of the United States government by apprehending Magneto and became the first government-sponsored mutant team, Freedom Force. The team's ranks swelled with the addition of vigilantes Crimson Commando, Super Sabre, and Stonewall, as well as the inter-dimensional Spiral and Julia Carpenter, the new Spider-Woman. Freedom Force conducted various missions for the government, ultimately losing both Destiny and Stonewall in battle against the cyborg Reavers on Muir Island. After Mystique, Spiral, and Spider-Woman left the team, the remaining members were sent on a mission to rescue nuclear physicist Harvey Kurtzman from captivity in Kuwait.

The operation went awry after they encountered the Arab super team Desert Sword. During the battle, Pyro killed both Kurtzman and Desert Sword operative Veil, Super Sabre was beheaded by Aminedi, and Crimson Commando was critically injured. Avalanche and Commando managed to escape alongside a squad of American soldiers, leaving Blob and Pyro to be captured.

Toad's Brotherhood

Eventually the Toad sought to form a new Brotherhood, recruiting Blob, Pyro, and forcing Karl Lykos to revert into Sauron. They attempted to recruit the Morlocks but were rebuffed until they agreed to take down the mutant Feral of the X-Force. During the battle, both Sauron and the Morlocks' leader Masque were seemingly killed; however both later resurfaced. Morlock member Phantasia remained with the brotherhood after the assault on X-force and during a failed effort to recruit the X-Patriots into the Brotherhood, due to an attack by X-Factor. They hatched a plan to use a teleporting mutant named Portal to gain powerful weapons and sneak attack the X-Men however,they were thwarted by the Amazing Spider-Man, crime-fighting Darkhawk and the enigmatic Sleepwalker. Soon after, Toad's Brotherhood disbanded.

Xavier's Brotherhood

The next incarnation of the team came when Professor Xavier was imprisoned by the government-sanctioned Operation: Zero Tolerance. Freed by a new Brotherhood of Mutants led by the Blob and consisting of Toad, Post and Mimic, Xavier agreed to train them to better their chances of survival against the then-sentient computer Cerebro.

Mystique's Second Brotherhood

After Cerebro was defeated by Xavier, the Brotherhood was employed by Mystique to recover the remains of X-51, the Machine Man, after which she reorganized the team. Mystique recruited some of her old teammates along with Sabretooth, Toad, Post, and Mastermind (Martinique Jason) with a view to launching another assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Senator Kelly. As Mystique, Sabretooth and Toad created a diversion by attacking the Muir Island Research Facility, Post, Blob, Avalanche, and Mastermind targeted Kelly. In response, the X-Men split into two groups to stop the Brotherhood but were unable to prevent the destruction of Muir. They would have been too late to save Kelly if not for the timely arrival of former Brotherhood member Pyro, who was in the final stages of the deadly mutant-killing Legacy Virus and sought to redeem himself before he died. Pyro sacrificed his life to incinerate Post, thus preventing Kelly's death. Despite this selfless act, Kelly was ultimately killed by an anti-mutant protester who believed him to be a race traitor.

Following Mystique's imprisonment, many of the Brotherhood members were recruited by former X-Man Banshee into the paramilitary X-Corps group.

Mystique's Third Brotherhood

The next incarnation of the Brotherhood was led by Mystique again. This Brotherhood had infiltrated the X-Corps and took over the group, before it was defeated by the X-Men and Mystique sucked into another dimension by X-Corps recruit Abyss (landing the two into the arms of Azazel, who was the father of both Abyss and Mystique's biological son Nightcrawler).

Following her being rescued from her former lover's realm, Mystique became a reluctant agent of Professor X, doing black-ops missions for him. While employed, Mystique claimed that the second and third Brotherhood formed by her were actually formed by someone trying to frame her, something Xavier dismissed as lies designed by Mystique to gain sympathy from Xavier.

Xorn's Brotherhood

After infiltrating Xavier's school in the guise of the mutant healer Xorn, a Magneto impostor adopted the Institute's special class of students - Basilisk, Ernst, Martha Johansson, Beak, and Angel - as his Brotherhood. Joined by Toad and Esme of the Stepford Cuckoos, the faux Magneto attempted a hostile takeover of Manhattan. However, his inability to control the resulting chaos resulted in the fracturing of the Brotherhood after he inadvertently killed Basilisk and was himself decapitated by Wolverine.

Exodus' Brotherhood

Recently the Brotherhood was reorganized by Magneto's former Acolyte Exodus, who recruited Black Tom, Avalanche, Sabretooth, Mammomax, and Nocturne for an all-out attack on the X-Men. The Brotherhood planned their attack based on inside knowledge provided by an apparent turncoat X-Man, the Juggernaut; however, he was revealed to be a mole planted by the X-Men. After a pitched battle, Exodus' Brotherhood was defeated when the X-Man Xorn created a black hole from the microscopic star in his brain which pulled them in and closed behind them. The final fate of this incarnation of the Brotherhood is yet to be revealed.

Joseph's Brotherhood

After being resurrected by Astra, Joseph formed a new Brotherhood. He had Astra clone the original brotherhood; Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Blob, Toad and Mastermind. This brotherhood attacked and tried to kill Magneto who managed to kill all the clones, excluding Joseph and also captured Astra; thus disbanding this incarnation of the Brotherhood.

After a final fight with the X-Force, Weapon III was killed by Deadpool, Omega Red by Genesis (seemingly), and Daken by Wolverine. The Shadow King was trapped into Omega White body, who was lobotomised by Psylocke, and this prison-body was taken by X-Force. Mystique escaped with Nightcrawler, as Omega Black and Sabretooth did, independently.

With the money the Brotherhood of Mutants robbed in the heists, Mystique acquired Madripoor from Hydra and attempted to turn it into a mutant sanctuary. Posing as Dazzler, Mystique attracted Magneto to the island and showed him her plans. However, Magneto reacted violently to the plan, believing that Mystique and the others were traitors to their species in part due to allowing the use of Mutant Growth Hormone to run rampant in the streets to fund their operations. He heavily injured Mystique and the Brotherhood and left after making their base collapse.[15]

After marking their first public appearance by attacking the United Nations Headquarters,[17] the Brotherhood kidnapped New York's mayor and held him hostage at an abandoned factory.[18] The mayor's kidnapping was intended to lure out the X-Men so they could be killed in an explosion. The X-Men managed to rescue the mayor and avoid the trap, defeating the Brotherhood in the process. Mesmero's hold over the team was broken, and the members of the Brotherhood were handed over to to S.H.I.E.L.D., ultimately leading to its disbandment.[16]

Lydia Nance facilitated Mesmero's escape from The Box to continue having him work for her.[19] Before escaping her approached Pyro and Avalanche, claiming to have found a way to escape on his own, and offering them a chance at freedom to have revenge on Nance. Once they escaped, the Brotherhood attacked a yatch where Nance's Heritage Initiative was holding a fundraising gala with the sole objective to lure the X-Men, though both Pyro and Avalanche believed they were there to terrorize Nance. Shortly after the X-Men arrived,[20] so did a NYPD squadron. Before the Brotherhood made their escape, Mesmero used his powers on the X-Men to make them believe the officers were an assortment of their enemies, prompting them to attack the police. The X-Men broke out of the illusion too late, and were arrested after coming to their senses. When the Brotherhood regrouped, Mesmero revealed the true nature behind their plot, and that they were still under Nance's paycheck. While Avalanche welcomed the earnings, Pyro walked away disgused by the treachery and for having been tricked into assisting the plans of an anti-mutant bigot.[19]

Magneto's Fourth Brotherhood

For a brief time, Magneto tried to help protect mutantkind with more compassionate methods, namely by mentoring the time-displaced young X-Men.[21] Following a global crisis caused by the release of the power-bestowing virus Mothervine, Magneto was pushed to his emotional brink,[22] and vowed to once again advance his mutant agenda by any means necessary.[23] After abandoning the young X-Men, Magneto set up a new Asteroid M, where he established a new incernation of the Brotherhood. Its ranks were comprised by Elixir, Exodus, Marrow, Briar Raleigh, Toad and Unuscione.[24]

Notes

Another mutant terrorist group simply calling itself the "Brotherhood" operated for a brief time.